DD13 phone usage

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2008
DD13 phone usage
16
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 10:01am
DH is constantly harping on DD13 being on the phone so much. I do not have a problem with it, but he has a BIG problem with it. I can remember being her age and always having a phone glued to my ear (at home anyway, that was long before cell ph's). I have tried to explain to him that is what teenage girls do, they talk on the phone. He just doesn't want to hear that. It's driving me crazy!!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-29-2003
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 10:42am

I'm a phone girl myself and completely understand the desire to chat the evening away.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2002
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 11:01am

My 2 DD's are on the phone a lot also, talking and texting. Thankfully, I got unlimited plans for both of them...for the most part, it doesn't bother me, as long as they do what they're supposed to and get to bed at a decent time.


It does bother my DH...maybe because of or in spite of, I dunno, the fact that he makes his living on the phone and usually has at least 2 attached to his head or hip. When he settles in at the end of a long day he doesn't like to hear chatter. The girls then have to figure it out...hole themselves up in their room to talk or be out in the open with us and not talk...


Growing up my parents had a lock on the phone. We were not allowed to use it, at all. If we got incoming calls, and were lucky enough not to have mother simply hang up on the caller, our phone time was limited. To this day, I'm not much of a phone person. A lengthy phone call wears me out. I prefer the Internet.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 11:01am

Well...unless your husband is perfect (and who the heck is?), he's probably got his own irrational or out of control habit or two.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 11:05am
Oh, it's not just girls.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2008
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 11:23am
He seems to have a hard time with the fact that she isn't with the family as much due to being on the phone, IM'ing, or both at the same time. He has never been a 'phone' person. He says he doesn't understand why they have to talk on the phone if they just left each other. She is 13 and doesn't want to hang out with mommy & daddy all the time. I understand this, he does not. IMO, he just has a hard time with the fact that she isn't his little baby any more. She tells me everything!!! So, maybe I feel more in the loop with her than he does.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 11:59am

"He says he doesn't understand why they have to talk on the phone if they just left each other."

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2007
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 12:04pm

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This is absolutely normal at that age and, I would say, even necessary. When kids enter the teen years, their friends become all-important to them. It's part of their need to separate from their parents and form their own identity. Of course, we don't have to accept it as an all-consuming activity. As parents, we can definitely set some limits, such as times that are specifically reserved for family. But spending the bulk of their time communicating with friends is normal & healthy, IMO.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 12:07pm

Your post hits the nail squarely on the head. I had a difficult adjustment with this around that age. It's quite irrational and your DH may never admit it. But the constant phone use is a new interruption in the family time. The phone has suddenly become more important that *anything* you or the family may be doing.


Your DH is out of the loop from what's being discussed in these

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2008
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 12:23pm

"What the h*** can be SO important!!"

OMG!! I can't tell you how many times I have heard THOSE exact words come out of his mouth!!!!!

I hope that by the time the other two are her age he has mellowed out about the phone thing.

http://www.paintedthoughts.us
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2008
In reply to: lgdavis
Wed, 01-09-2008 - 12:58pm
Try to explain to your DH that your DD's grades are good,she's a good kid, and does what she is suppose to do at school and home so her being on the phone is really not a big deal. If her calls aren't effecting emergency phone calls from coming in from things like doctors or work related calls then i don't see what the problem is. You could also suggest to your DH that you could always buy her a cell phone and once your DH gets the bill he will be glad she is talking on the home phone. LOL
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